AISI publishes three new cold-formed steel framing research reports

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has published three new cold-formed steel framing research reports: 1) “RP15-3: Advancing Seismic Simulation of Cold-Formed Steel Framed Buildings,” 2) “RP17-1: Experimental Study on System Reliability of Cold-Formed Steel Roof Trusses,” and 3) “RP17-2: Monotonic and Cyclic Response of Single Shear Cold-Formed Steel-to-Steel and Sheathing-to-Steel Connections.”

“RP15-3: Advancing Seismic Simulation of Cold-Formed Steel Framed Buildings.” This report advances performance-based seismic design of cold-formed steel framed buildings by introducing computationally efficient and accurate modeling tools that predict the behavior of the building, the individual cold-formed steel components, and connections in a seismic event.

“RP17-1: Experimental Study on System Reliability of Cold-Formed Steel Roof Trusses.” This study of cold-formed steel roof trusses was part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation, “Advancing System Reliability With Application to Light-Framed Structures.” Test data are provided for examining cold-formed steel structural reliability in roof trusses as a system versus individual components.

“RP17-2: Monotonic and Cyclic Response of Single Shear Cold-Formed Steel-to-Steel and Sheathing-to-Steel Connections.” Researchers developed load-deformation response models to simulate the performance of screw fasteners in a seismic event. Since screw fasteners are the primary connectors in light steel framing, this research provides designers with more accurate performance-based data for conducting whole building seismic analysis.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.